Petroleum related activities are well known for imposing upon the environment assorted processing and production fluids quite harmful to the natural setting.
Drilling and production tubular goods are normally supplied in sections of about thirty foot length. Entire well strings are made up of such sections. In drilling, the well string is frequently tripped and stands usually of ninety to one hundred twenty feet are commonly stored temporarily in a vertical array extending up into the rig tower. Each stand is supported on the tool joint end and the threads cannot be serviced until the stand is picked up. The top threads are usually serviced when the stand is joined to the string and that thread is then the top end of the suspended string. While the string is idle the threads still are coated with tacky thread grease from the previous cleaning and lubricating cycle. Debris collects on the threads.
Traditional thread cleaning has involved a bucket and brush. The usual rig floor worker is rarely short of good intentions but haste is ever present. The threads in tool joint boxes and mating pins degrade and require occasional rework at prepared facilities. Pipe handling, transport, and rework is a serious expense.
Production tubing is tripped less often but that extends time between thread inspections. A single leaky thread can stop production and necessitate well work-over and pipe rework. The costs are still a serious matter.
Under pressure of government regulatory agencies and conscientious producers various efforts to mechanize the thread servicing function has resulted in various useful sub-systems being used on sight. This is often a collection of separate useful devices requiring coordination to avoid spillage of contaminants.
There is a need for a composite system for handling solvents and other cleaners, the cleaning mechanism and the recovery of fluids and debris. The composite system needs to be efficiently usable wherever pipe threads are cleaned whether pipe is vertical or horizontal. At well sites the pipe is usually at hand both vertical and horizontal.
It is therefore an object of this invention to provide apparatus that can service threads on box or pin ends of pipe in both the vertical and the horizontal position.
It is another object of this invention to provide apparatus for pipe thread cleaning with shrouds that sealingly engage pipe surfaces to prevent spillage of cleaning fluids and debris while cleaning proceeds.
It is yet another object of this invention to provide pipe thread cleaning apparatus with movable thread cleaning heads flexibly connected to a cleaning fluid source under pressure and a waste fluid storage reservoir under vacuum.
It is a further object of this invention to provide apparatus to apply power to rotate thread cleaning brushes in cleaning heads and to supply cleaning fluids and purge air to clean and dry threads.
It is still another object of this invention to provide squeegee gaskets for both outer and bore surfaces of pipe to be serviced that is attached to cleaning heads and activated by the act of installing the cleaning heads on pipe.
It is yet another object of this invention to provide automatic sequencing gear to automatically sequence the cleaning functions when the cleaning action is initiated manually.
It is further another object of this invention to provide a centrifuge to process the effluent fluids to remove the portion of those fluids capable of further use as cleaning fluids.
These and other objects advantages, and features of this invention will be apparent to those skilled in the art from a consideration of this specification, including the attached claims and appended drawings.